2009

Annual Report
Information Services
& Technology
Pepperdine University, Malibu, California
Brian Aasen University Partners
J.J. Akilu Joy Asamen
Terence Anderson Phillip Bohl
Dianne Asis Lauren Cosentino
James Ballcchino Janet Davis
Felix Baronikian
Tom Bashara
Contributors Robert deMayo
Michael Dula
Tim Bodden Stella Erbes
Scott Bolan INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DIVISION EMPLOYEES Michael Feltner
Brian Bowen Constance Fulmer
Matthew Bush Deborah Galuhn
Ross Canning Susan Gautsch
Kim Cary Eric Hamilton
Omar Cayasso Joel Howard Hector Ramirez Susan Imholz
Jennifer Cha Peter Kain Alan Regan Connie James
Lotte Cherin Zorinan Kasilag Novita Rogers Sheryl Kelo
Lance Coert Hong Kha Tim Rogers John Kim
Anthony Cortez Ryan Kim Erik Rush Hung Le
Ted De Guzman Henry Lai Rita Schnepp Mark Mallinger
Ory De La Rosa Luis Lara Jonathan See Matthew Midura
Rebekah Dillingham Ernie Lauer Evan Shanks Bob McQuaid
Jason Eggleston Tom Layman Prakash Sharma John Mooney
Sean Fife Shu Chi Liou Bronson Somerville Cindy Morgan
John Figueroa David Lockett Ronn Stinson Maire Mullins
Gerard Flynn Christopher Low Vic Suphasiri Linda Polin
Brian Fujitani JoAnn McNayr Robert Telmar Margaret Riel
Danna Gianforte Rene Mendez Cesar Uribe Susan Salas
Mark Giglione Joe Munoz John Vannoy Shelley Saxer
John Gladwin Ken Noone Martin Vazquez Michael Shires
Jose Hernandez Raphael Norton Sara Voeks David Smith
Dave Holden Jackie Paicius Micheal Waitley Michael Stamper
Dana Hoover Dennis Papenhausen Ronit Weiss Brian Thomason
Jerry Hoover Nirali Patel Michael Weng Phil Thomason
Thomas Hoover Kevin Phan Lynn White Linda Wallace
John Horton Carter Quinn Michael Williams
John Quinn

Image
Dr. Timothy M. Chester
Vice Provost and
Chief Information Officer
This is a different kind of report. Instead of
talking about the nuts and bolts of technology,
we have deliberately chosen to feature stories
of Pepperdine University faculty and staff who
use technology services to realize their
academic and administrative goals. As
technologists, we support them in their use of
technology; it is their success that truly matters.
The business of delivering and supporting
technology is not about information, or
technology – it’s about the faculty, students, and
staff who depend on us each day.
This report chronicles the achievements of
Pepperdine University faculty and staff in their use of
technology over the past year. In highlighting these
individuals, we draw attention to our belief that
technology is a means, not an end.
Over the past year, we continued to reorient
Information Technology to focus on the people we
serve and their use of technology to work
collaboratively, solve problems, and expand the
capacity of the University’s academic and
administrative services. Each individual highlighted in
this report is a leader in this area. Because of their
foresight and hard work over the past year, student
services were enhanced and the quality of the
academic experience strengthened.
The past year was also a time that required us to set
priorities and make difficult decisions. We carefully
reviewed our hiring, retention, and professional
development practices to ensure that staff members
have the right competencies to be successful in their
roles supporting the University community. We
renegotiated every contract for software, hardware,
and maintenance and through competitive bidding
we were able to reduce expenses without reducing
the quality or quantity of our services. In addition to
this work, we focused earnestly on our most
important initiatives: supporting technology and
learning, extending the reach of the PeopleSoft
applications, and ensuring that the network
infrastructure meets the ever-growing needs of our
community.
The employees in Information Technology, along with
our colleagues and partners throughout the
University, are the reasons for our success. It’s with
their dedication, service, and support that the
individuals highlighted in this report were able to
achieve their aspirations.
 Professor Susan Salas shares her thoughts, secrets for success, and triumphs as the
creator of some of the most popular educational podcasts at Pepperdine University.

The first time a student hears Professor Susan Salas's choice not to edit her lectures. The impact on her
voice pouring out of their headphones, they can't help students has been powerful.
but settle in and listen closely.
“They feel like they know me,” said Salas, “because I’m
"I want my students to feel like they were sitting across sharing something that I am so passionate about.”
the table from me when they hear my
podcasts," said the associate professor Before she started
of telecommunications and director of
broadcasting at Pepperdine University.
“They feel like they podcasting, she was
warned that her

Unsurprisingly, her course lectures are know me, because I’m attendance would
drop. "That hasn't
among the most popular downloads been the case at all,"
from Pepperdine's iTunes U website. sharing something said Salas. Her lectures
and course materials
When Salas initially heard of podcasts
she was curious enough to visit the first that I am so build on the content in
the podcast, in fact,
few universities that posted content in
iTunes U. After listening to a few
recorded lectures, most with
passionate about.” students are required
to listen to them
before they attend
- Susan Salas
inconsistent audio capture and quality, class.
Salas realized that she wanted to do
something very different. "Everyone in class can tell when one student hasn't
listened to the assigned podcast, that student has no idea
Knowing that her students would be listening to the what they are doing," said Salas, "and they let their group
lectures with sound coming directly into their ears, she down."
set out to create the best experience possible: a clear,
consistent audio recording that would be as engaging as Salas noted that her students often arrive to class talking
"The podcasts a face-to-face discussion. about what they learned in the podcast that week.

get them To do this, she recorded her lectures on a DJ

microphone in a sound booth, thinking and speaking as if
she was having a dialogue with one student.
"The podcasts get them pumped up. They challenge me
on stuff," said Salas.

pumped up." To add the spontaneity and casual flow of a real

Salas's goal was not only to relay content in a familiar
environment for her students, but also to spark their
-Susan Salas conversation, Salas used bullet points to guide her curiosity. "I set them up to be curious, to want to learn
thoughts instead of a script. She also made a conscious more," Salas said, "and it's working!"
As a faculty member who is well versed in the value of labor and capital, Michael
Williams saves time and energy in his daily life by using Sakai for course management.

Since summer 2009, Michael Williams, assistant professor them with me," said Williams. "This system also provides
of information systems at the Graziado School of more timely feedback to students, they have their
Business and Management (GSBM), has become a homework grades immediately."
devoted advocate of Pepperdine University's newest
learning management system, Sakai. When speaking about
the added benefits of
"As a faculty member, you should expect
to use a tool that saves you time, serves "As a faculty member, Sakai, Williams
remarked, "We
all your course needs, and is easy to manage our lives
use,” said Williams. “Sakai is that tool." you should expect to online, why not our
courses?"
Learning management systems serve an
important mission at most universities. use a tool that saves Beyond serving as a
At a minimum it helps faculty organize web space for course
and distribute course materials to
students, but beyond that it is often used
you time, serves all management, Sakai
encourages less
as a place to collaborate and share
information outside of class. your course needs, printing and emailing
by providing students

Williams is using Sakai for coursework

and committee work this fall, but he
and is easy to use.” with a one-stop-shop
for all of their course
- Michanel Williams materials online
noted that not all systems are created anytime, anywhere. It
equal. allows faculty to post
their syllabus and reading materials and to activate tools
"Sakai was created by educators for educators,” he said. that allow them to collect student work, distribute
“It does everything I want and requires 40 percent less
labor than other learning management systems."
assignments, and post grades.
“Sakai was
Williams saves time by using a Sakai feature called
"Post'Em," which allows him to batch download student
They can also activate several Web 2.0 tools such as
blogs, wikis, and podcasts, giving students the opportunity
to learn these tools while they are learning the subject
created by
assignments, grade them offline, and then batch upload
them directly to students' personal folders inside Sakai.
content.
educators for
"As a faculty member, it's simply easier for me to work
this way. I don't have to lug around papers, I can access
Sakai is available to every faculty member at Pepperdine
University. Support and workshops are available through
Pepperdine IT's Technology and Learning group at http://
educators.”
and grade papers from anywhere without having to bring services.pepperdine.edu/techlearn/. - Michael Williams
Dean Kenneth Starr explains how he became involved in podcasting and talks about
the value of podcasting in law education at Pepperdine University.

As early as 2006, Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean and
Professor of Law Kenneth W. Starr began podcasting
select lectures and events, using TWEN, the School of
Law’s learning management system. Today, the School
hosts the largest number of tracks on Pepperdine's
iTunes U site.
"Podcasts create additional opportunities for the 'Aha!'
moments," said Starr.
While the choice to begin recording lectures was not
intuitive for Starr, he was inspired by fellow colleagues
and began recording his large lecture classes. Starr’s
recordings and other audio, video, and enhanced media
files created from lectures are broadcast through
platforms like iTunes U and learning management
systems such as Sakai, Blackboard, and TWEN.
iTunes U serves as a world-wide, online repository for
free, education-related content that can be easily
downloaded to a desktop media player or to a portable
device such as an iPod or iPhone.
On the Pepperdine iTunes U site, podcasts of lectures
and events can be kept private for the University
community or made public. Features, such as content
privacy, are left to the discretion of the faculty member
or content creator.
Starr noted that the School of Law Information
Technology staff makes podcasting easy.
"All I have to do is remember to turn it on," said Starr.
"Ease of use is a huge motivating factor when it comes to
actually making the recordings."

When media files are broadcasted, they become known

as podcasts, which is the concatenation of the words
"iPod" and "broadcast." "Podcasts create
Starr was further encouraged to record lectures because
of the student response. Many students use podcasts of
additional opportunities
course lectures as a valuable study and review resource.
for the 'Aha!' moments."
"Law is solitary - you have to do it alone," said Starr. "It's - Kenneth Starr
important to provide students with materials that engage
them in learning outside the classroom."
To learn more about podcasting and its use in education,
The law section of Pepperdine's iTunes U site contains contact the Technology and Learning group at http://
frequent audio recordings of lectures from School of Law services.pepperdine.edu/techlearn/.
faculty members, such as Gregory Ogden and Grant
Nelson, as well as recordings from School of Law events
with popular speakers such as Supreme Court Justices
Antonin Scalia and Samuel A. Alito.
Cathy Thomas-Grant knows how to direct a successful production company on
campus, but what happens when the production is on foreign shores? Thomas-Grant
turned toward technology to maintain students’ momentum and motivation.

As chair of the Fine Arts Division and associate professor According to Thomas-Grant, the subsection on dialects
of theater at Pepperdine University, Cathy Thomas- was one of the most useful resources in the wiki. "Many
Grant's office serves as a hub of student activity and parts required a strong Kentucky or Cherokee dialect,
connectivity. So, when it came time to plan her biennial which was difficult for students to master," said Thomas-
student summer trip to Edinburgh, Thomas-Grant sought Grant.
out technology as a means to preserve a In the wiki students
sense of community and connectivity were given helpful
among her students who were home for
the summer.
Everything you can hints for speaking,
links to YouTube

Using a wiki, Thomas-Grant was able to think of we added to videos, and a series
of audio files to
engage her students and prepare them for listen to and repeat.
several weeks of non-stop rehearsals and
performances. A wiki is a collaborative
the wiki: sheet music The students also
added their own
website that allows multiple users to
create and edit pages, add content, and for download, images research to the wiki,
sharing resources
share resources.

"With nearly 30 students in different states

of props, a calendar and information with
their classmates.

around the U.S., and very little rehearsal

time once we arrived in Edinburgh, I had
of events...it was all in "Because of the wiki,
the students were
to find a way to prepare the actors and
the crew for our productions. A wiki
worked perfectly," said Thomas-Grant.
one place.” better prepared
when they arrived
and they took these
- Cathy Thomas-Grant
productions much
Thomas-Grant set up her wiki to contain
subsections on music, production,
further,” Thomas-
Grant said. "The wiki
“The wiki
research, dialects, and cast lists for the
productions. forward for me. It was a load off."
site was a big step
was a big
"Everything you can think of, we added to the wiki: sheet
music for download, images of props, a calendar of
To learn more about using a wiki to extend learning
outside the classroom contact Pepperdine IT's
step forward
events...it was all in one place," said Thomas-Grant. Even
the London-based music director was able to connect via
Technology and Learning group at http://
services.pepperdine.edu/techlearn/. for me.”
the wiki. - Cathy Thomas-Grant
Professor Chris Heard explains the value behind using a learning management system
such as Blackboard and talks about why he uses it to teach at Pepperdine University.

Professor Christopher Heard is rarely seen on campus
without his laptop, so it came as no surprise when he
told his students they would not need to buy a textbook
for his fall semester course.
"A learning management system allows instructors to
post and organize course materials online," said Heard, "It
allows me the freedom to focus on the content that I
want to give my students."
Heard started using
Blackboard nine years ago,
before he arrived at "The best feature of
By posting a short quiz every week, Heard was able to
gauge his students' understanding of the material and
determine if extra time needed to be spent on a
concept or subject area. In turn, his students were
grateful for the instant feedback on quiz results.
In addition to posting course materials online, Professor
Heard also encouraged use of the discussion board. On
the discussion board, students can link to external
websites or to materials that had
been added to the document
section of Blackboard.

Pepperdine. He was drawn "Using the discussion board well

to the learning management
system because of its ability
Blackboard is its takes time and dedication on
behalf of the instructor,” noted
to serve as a central
location for course ability to organize Heard. “It's important to engage in
the discussion with the students.”
management and materials.
In the beginning, Heard used
the system simply to post
content. The online "The best feature of Blackboard is
its ability to organize content. The
grades online for students,
but over time he found resources allow me to online resources allow me to
focus on what we really need for
himself using the quizzes and
documents sections, and
finally, using it as a
focus on what we class.”

Heard found that his students

mechanism to deliver
supplemental textbook-like
really need for class.” quickly adapted to the system, and
appreciated not having to
content online. - Chris Heard purchase a textbook for the
course.
Heard used Blackboard to
set up learning units and placed materials into folders Blackboard is available to all faculty members at
that matched the units. The first page of the learning unit Pepperdine University. To learn more about Blackboard
contained a preview, then a bullet point list of reading contact Pepperdine IT's Technology and Learning group
materials, and at the end of the list there was a quiz. at http://services.pepperdine.edu/techlearn/.
Margaret Weber speaks about her experience using Google Apps to help organize
research materials for herself and her graduate students.
As the dean of the Graduate School of Education and
Psychology at Pepperdine University, Margaret Weber not
only leads her faculty and students in educational
excellence, but she also leads in technology innovation.
Like many graduate school faculty, Weber advises,
mentors, and collaborates with doctoral students on
research papers.
"With all the documents emailed
back and forth, everyone had
their own system for organizing
materials,” said Weber. “We Google Docs is a
needed to find a way to bring it
all together in one place." powerful tool for
At first, Weber decided to try
using a wiki. However, it soon collaborative editing,
became clear to her team that
while a wiki can be an excellent
tool for drafting papers and
group work,
tracking edits, it was not ideal for
compiling and organizing journaling, and
documents that already exist in
PDF, Microsoft Word, and
Microsoft Excel format; such as
reflective papers.
white papers, institutional review
board documents, and other research materials.
In June 2009, Weber decided to try Google Apps, which
had just been introduced by Pepperdine IT.
Google Docs, one of the many Google Apps available to
Pepperdine's faculty and students, provides users with
traditional folder creation and document organization,
while still allowing users to share and draft materials in
one common, online space.
Google Docs proved to be the ideal solution for Weber's
team. Together with her students, she created folders for
literature reviews, data analysis, and research protocols,
while drafting sections of a research paper. Weber was
also able to create a folder of documents on research
methodologies that applies to all students regardless of
their research area.
"One of the most powerful
features of Google Docs is the
ability to synchronously edit the
same document from anywhere,
anytime, and to have those edits
highlighted in different colors to
show individual contributions in
perpetuity," said Weber.
"However, it is the document
organization features that make
this tool perfect for research."
Google Docs is a powerful tool
for collaborative editing, group
work, journaling, and reflective
papers. It comes fully integrated
with the Pepperdine's single sign on system, which allows
faculty and students alike to use their Pepperdine
NetworkID and password to access the system.
To learn more about using Google Docs to collaborate
with students or colleagues, contact Pepperdine IT's
Technology and Learning group at http://
services.pepperdine.edu/techlearn/.
 One year after the PeopleSoft implementation, Hung Le, associate vice president and
university registrar, speaks about the learning curve, the opportunities, and the future.

After a year of using PeopleSoft, Hung Le, associate vice "PeopleSoft is a very smart system; when you change
president and university registrar, believes that the system one thing, it has an affect elsewhere," said Le. "Because of
has changed things for the better at Pepperdine these checks and balances, everyone using the system
University. had to be retrained and much more informed in our
business processes."
The system used prior to the PeopleSoft implementation
was functional, but Le admits that it was held together by Le is grateful for the opportunity to use PeopleSoft to
strings. better serve students.
Besides streamlining
"We modified the old system to the business processes,
nth degree and our business processes
were filled with workarounds," he said.
"Our success is PeopleSoft allows for
more integrated online
"PeopleSoft wasn't just new software.
It was an opportunity to look at how dependent on our services. For example,
using the guest access
we do business."

"We had 100 percent knowledge

ability to keep option students can
grant and remove guest
access for other
turnover our first year. The PeopleSoft
implementation taught us to think
learning and to apply individuals who want to
see their grades,
critically about our work, to embrace
change and new technology, and
ultimately, to discover how we can
our learning to enrollment, and financial
information. It also
offers students online
better serve the Pepperdine
community," said Le.
everything we do." billing and allows them
to accept or decline
- Hung Le financial aid online.
During the implementation, Le and
“PeopleSoft colleagues worked closely with Information Technology
staff to maintain both of the systems for nearly eight
A year after implementation, Le and his staff are still
learning and adapting to the PeopleSoft system.

is a very months until PeopleSoft was fully implemented on

August 1, 2008. At the same time, faculty and staff from "Our success is dependent on our ability to keep learning
all five schools collaborated to determine how to best and to apply our learning to everything we do," said Le.
smart serve students with the new system. A significant portion
of the pre-launch collaboration focused on cleaning the
"I'm grateful for those people University-wide who have
stayed engaged in the learning and change process. They
system.” legacy data in the conversion process and standardizing
the input of future data for the new system.
have made the biggest difference to the way we serve
our students and the rest of the University community."
- Hung Le
Instructor Susan Gautsch speaks about using Elluminate, a web conferencing system,
to teach and interact with business school students at Pepperdine University.

As director of e-learning and instructor of information During her online sessions, Gautsch often sets up
systems at the Graziadio School of Business and breakout rooms in Elluminate where groups analyze a
Management (GSBM), Susan Gautsch is constantly problem and come to consensus on a solution. As the
pushing at the boundaries of the classroom to expand instructor, she can navigate between the main Elluminate
the use of online learning environment and the breakout
spaces and to bring outside rooms to see how discussions are
influences into the
classroom. Elluminate allows progressing. In the breakout rooms
students can use a whiteboard or
share applications with their group.
A few years ago, Gautsch
motivated her colleagues at
students to interact Then she brings all the students
back into the main room where
GSBM to try Elluminate, a
web conferencing tool that with faculty during the they discuss what each group did.

allows instructors to "The key is that they collaborate

conduct class online. session by asking
"We needed to find an
online tool that could questions, polling, and
empower both students and
faculty in real time," said
Gautsch.
sharing documents.
Some web conferencing
tools are unidirectional, but Elluminate allows students to
interact with faculty and each other during the session by
asking questions, polling, and sharing documents.
Gautsch and a few of her colleagues are currently using
Elluminate to teach blended-learning courses; part face-
to-face, part online. When students log into Elluminate,
they enter a "room" with their professor and fellow
classmates. "To keep 25-30 students engaged online at
the same time is a challenge in managing energy and
engagement," said Gautsch.
Gautsch found that preparing small group activities not
only keeps students engaged, but it can also create the
opportunity for deeper learning.
with a specific goal and
deliverable," noted Gautsch.
As part of GSBM’s Blended
Learning initiative there are a
dozen GSBM faculty members
teaching in various modalities
including online with Elluminate
and asynchronously with a wide
array of other learning technologies. Some sessions are
conducted multi-site. These classes meet at different
campuses such as Irvine and West LA and use high
definition videoconferencing and Elluminate to see and
share materials with classmates who are meeting on
other campuses.
"As the need for face-to-face classroom alternatives rise,
tools like Elluminate are helping to support a valuable
need at Pepperdine University," said Gautsch.
Elluminate is available to all Pepperdine University faculty
members. To learn more or attend a workshop, visit the
Technology and Learning website at http://
services.pepperdine.edu/techlearn/.
 Notable Accomplishments

In addition to the advancements made in technology and learning, there are several notable accomplishments for
the 2008-2009 fiscal year. Service and support have not only increased, but IT introduced smarter, more
efficient technologies and services that brought sizable savings and value to the University and its employees.

Type to enter text

NCOMPUTING - VIRTUAL COMPUTING AT PEPPERDINE approximate cost per unit, the implementation savings for 108
NComputing units is $106,653. The annual amount of energy saved by
running 108 units is $2,570.
Facing budget reductions, Information Technology conducted a pilot study
to explore virtual computing as a solution to reduce computer costs and The pilot study showed that a computer running Windows XP could
power usage.Virtual computing, the replacement of desktop computers comfortably support 6 users, and a computer running Windows Server
with virtual machines, allows multiple users to share one computer 2003 can comfortably
(Windows PC), but maintain the functionality and speed as if each user has support up to 30 users.
their own computer. In actuality, each user has a monitor, keyboard, and Student surveys
mouse, all of which are connected to a virtual host computer. Information Technology’s 12-month pilot
showed that an
NComputing unit using study proved that virtual computing is
The pilot study for this project was conducted from August 2008 to Windows Server 2003,
August 2009. During the pilot, 108 NComputing units were installed in the more cost and energy efficient than
which gave students the
main student computer lab and in second-floor kiosk on the West Los running personal computers without
same Windows XP
Angeles campus, as well as in the International Studies and Languages (ISL) "look and feel," sacrificing performance.
computer lab and Sand Bar Café on the Malibu Campus. Software installed provided the best
on the NComputing units ranges from Microsoft Office 2007 to the computing experience
statistical program SPSS 16.0. in computer labs and
public computing environments.
There is no central computer refresh plan in place at Pepperdine,
however, Information Technology’s current recommendation for Pepperdine University is currently using NComputing's L230 in
institutional purchases is the Dell OptiPlex 755 Mini Tower with the lab environments and the X550 in office cubicle settings. The host machine
1908FP Monitor, which sells for approximately $1,000. Given this specifications range from CPU 2.0- 2.4 GHZ, 2-4 GB of RAM, and 80- 360
GB hard drives. IT staff discovered that the L230 is best suited for using
Microsoft Office applications and browsing the Internet. The built-in
microphone and stereo-out port effectively support the audio/visual needs
of the language lab, and the USB port allows students to save their work
to a flash drive.
The 12-month study proved that virtual computing is more cost and
energy efficient than running personal computers without sacrificing
performance. Director of instructional technology, Thomas Hoover, notes
that not all labs can be virtualized, however, based on the positive results
of the pilot study, IT will use virtual computing to save the University
purchasing and administrative costs wherever possible. IT staff is currently
working with all five Pepperdine schools and departments to implement
virtual computing in their areas.
NOLIJ - IMAGING PLATFORM FOR ELECTRONIC FILES
In October 2008, a new University-wide imaging platform called Nolij
(pronounced “knowledge”) replaced the former system, Stellent, at
Pepperdine University. Nolij stores electronic images of important
documents such as student applications, grades, and tuition information.
Using Nolij, these documents are electronically filed, easily retrieved, and
preserved.
The transition from Stellent to Nolij saves the University approximately
$65,000 per year in annual fees and offers increased functionality and
compatibility with existing systems such as PeopleSoft. Users are able to
pull and push data into PeopleSoft from within Nolij, creating more
efficient and valuable timesaving procedures.
Implementation
During the transition to Nolij, over 5.5 million pages and their attached
meta data from Stellent were cleaned, combined into full documents, and
associated with students, faculty, or staff via their campus wide
identification (CWID) numbers. Also, students who were previously
indexed by their social security number are now indexed by their CWID,
mitigating potential information security risks for the University.
Notably, 55,000 legacy transcripts, dating back to some of the University’s
earliest years, were transferred from the Registrar’s archive on the
mainframe into Nolij. In addition, over 100,000 microfiche documents
were migrated from DVDs into Nolij in order to preserve historic student
records.
With the newly added material and the creation of full documents from
individually filed pages, Nolij currently contains 3.5 million secure,
searchable documents that can be accessed according to set departmental
permissions at a moment’s notice. All of the documents and data in Nolij
are backed up several times per day on Pepperdine servers, as well as
remote servers.
Finance
For the Finance Department, Nolij offered a sizeable boost to time and
productivity. Jeffrey Garza, manager of finance system technology, estimates
that the change in business procedures because of Nolij has given the staff
30 percent more time. Staff is no longer losing eight hours per week filing
checks, or spending significant time looking for paper documents that
were misfiled. Garza noted that a major benefit to using Nolij is that it is
almost impossible to misfile a document. All documents are read by the
scanner and
automatically indexed
according to a vendor
identification number. Nolij stores electronic images of
important documents such as student
Prior to the applications, grades, and tuition
implementation of Nolij,
Finance scanned
information and can be electronically
approximately 1,000 filed, easily retrieved, and preserved.
pages per month. That
number has increased to
10-15,000 pages per
month and is bound to increase again as the Finance Department begins
to scan additional types of documents over the coming year.
Admissions
The Seaver Admissions Department has also benefited from the
implementation of Nolij by automating the student application checklist.
When applicants apply to Pepperdine University, an application checklist is
created. Nolij stores the documents that applicants submit and routinely
checks to determine if the application is complete. When the application is
complete, Nolij will route it to the appropriate admissions counselor.
Then, without leaving the document management system, the counselor
can process and add notes to the application. This kind of comprehensive
functionality was not available with Stellent and has allowed the Seaver
Admissions Department to process applications in a more efficient and
timely manner.
Human Resources
The Center for Human Resources has just begun to use Nolij to store
position descriptions and employee management documents. Carla
Anderson-Kohn, associate director of compensation and employment, said
that Nolij has been very useful for storing and retrieving nearly 1,300
position descriptions, for which the Center often receives requests. The
Center is currently making plans to begin entering all employee data from
this point forward into Nolij, and over time, to scan all paper files in the
Center’s office.
ANYTIME SUPPORT HELP DESK
In October 2008, the Pepperdine Help Desk was outsourced to SunGard
Higher Education to better serve the needs of the Pepperdine community
in the U.S. and around the world. With so many students enrolled in
graduate-level evening courses and traveling abroad, the new 24/7
operating hours offered much needed technical service support to the
Pepperdine community.
 
According to Jerry Hoover, director of anytime support for Pepperdine IT,
there are multiple agents responsible for answering Pepperdine calls. When
a Pepperdine constituent calls the Help Desk, renamed the “Anytime
Support Desk,” it is evident to the call center that it is a Pepperdine caller
because of the phone line on which the call enters the system. In the first
12 months of operation, SunGard answered Pepperdine calls in 55 seconds
on average, an improvement over the average of 89 seconds it took for
the old Help Desk when it was hosted at Pepperdine.
 
When a call comes in, SunGard verifies the caller’s name and contact
information so that a ticket can be created to track the call and the issue.
Following the call, the caller is sent a detailed email acknowledging that the
issue has been resolved or reassigned to local IT staff. In the first 12
months, SunGard resolved 77 percent of the issues on the first call
compared to 53 percent that were resolved on the first call by the old
Help Desk when it was hosted at Pepperdine. IT continues to work
closely with SunGard to improve the quality of each call.
ANYTIME STORAGE XYTHOS
HTTP://STORAGE.PEPPERDINE.EDU
In summer 2009, Pepperdine IT released Anywhere Storage, an application
that offers one gigabyte of personal, sharable online storage space for
Pepperdine faculty, students, and staff.
Xythos, the technology behind Anywhere Storage, makes it possible to
securely access and share files from anywhere. Because users access
Anywhere Storage via their web browser, it is not necessary to connect to
the University’s virtual private network (VPN) to access documents. In
addition, a ticket can be created to share files with users who do not have
a Pepperdine network account.
Everyday users of Anywhere Storage also have the option to create a
virtual Xythos folder on their desktop. The folder allows users save or
drag-and-drop files into the folder and have them automatically appear in
their Anywhere Storage account online.
MONTHLY NEWS FROM INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
To learn more about Pepperdine IT’s projects and initiatives as they
happen, visit the IT website to read the monthly report from the vice
provost and chief information officer. Reports are available at
http://services.pepperdine.edu/it/about/status-reports.htm
Pepperdine University Information Services & Technology
24255 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, California 90263-4173

T 310-506-4173
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http://services.pepperdine.edu/it